This article explores the available research literature on language development and language interventions among deaf and hard of hearing (d/hh) children. This literature is divided into two broad categories: Research on natural languages (specifically American Sign Language and spoken English) and research on communication systems (specifically…

The role of verbs in American Sign Language (ASL) is investigated. Verb mutations in ASL are very different from the kinds of grammatical deformations that occur in English, and are different from those that occur in spoken languages as a whole. (HP)

The deaf are being taught to teach the deaf in an approach that combines sign language, lipreading, and body language. (Editor)

This paper examines the assignment and use of name signs in the deaf community. A total of approximately 450 individual name signs were collected, recorded, and analyzed. (CFM)

To examine the relationship of impulse control in deaf children to parent hearing status, manual communication, and academic achievement, 324 deaf children (6-10 years old) were given a battery of tests. (DLS)

A test of morpheme-based concepts was administered to 67 deaf children (ages 5-11 years) who were exposed to Seeing Essential English (SEE--a visual English sign system). (Author)

Deaf children unable to acquire oral language naturally and who are not exposed to a standard manual language can spontaneously develop a structured sign system that has many of the properties of natural spoken language. This communication system appears to be largely the invention of the child himself. (Authors/BT)

Six research areas in manual/simultaneous communication (M/SC) for hearing-impaired individuals are discussed. (Author)

This paper examines historical processes in American Sign Language (ASL) and shows that there is a tendency for signs to change in the direction of arbitrariness, rather than maintaining a level of iconicity. Changes at the formational level are seen as contributing to language-internal consistency, at the expense of transparency. (Author/CLK)

Deaf ethnicity, as the social phenomenon of deafness, is presented as the proper context in which to consider language learning, language teaching, and language planning in the education of the deaf. (Author/NCR)

The article elaborates on the assumption that since sign languages are received and initially processed by the visual system, then the rules for the formation of signs of a sign language would be constrained by the limits of the visual system. (Author/NCR)

Charles A. Ferguson's concept of "diglossia" (1959, 1964) is used in analyzing sign language. As in Haitian Creole or Swiss German, "two or more varieties" of sign language are "used by the same speakers under different conditions"--these are here called "High" (H) sign language and "Low" (L) sign language. H sign language is formally taught…

The present study examined the effects of communication mode (oral vs. oral plus manual) and level of communicative competence (high vs. low) on profoundly deaf preschool children's play interactions with their hearing mothers. The sample consisted of 28 dyads equally divided into groups of oral and simultaneous (oral plus manual) communicators…

This paper explores the link between sign language research and sociolinguistic theory. It demonstrates how sign language research benefits from a sociolinguistic approach and provides validation for sociolinguistic theory. Previous research on the sign language of the deaf is reviewed, and a distinction is made between "structure-oriented" and…